US1252704A - Adding-machine. - Google Patents

Description

l. L. LANIER.

ADDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED one. 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- J/ LZ J witnesses j, |nventor,

' by WIPW- I r I,

Attorneys;

L. LANIER.

ADDING MACHINE. APPLICATIQN FILED DEC. 6, I916- 1,252,704. Patented Jan, 8, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Witnesses Exam/1M Inventor,

Attorneys var LEE Lama's, or'nrc zonr, nonrn cmomna annme-macn'nm. I

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J an. 8, 1918.

Application filed December a, leis. semi No. 135,501.

'To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVEY LEE LANIER, a citizen of .the United States, residing at Hickory, in the county, of Catawba and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Adding-Machine, of which the following is a specification. I

The present invention appertains to adding machines, and aims to provide a novel and improved machine of thischaracter.

It is the object of the invention to provide an adding machine embodying a set of indicating or registering wheels each having nu-. merals running from 0 to 9, a single set of keys running from 0 to 9, and means whereby said wheels are operated in succession by the same set of keys, each wheel being advanced the required number of steps by the respective keys of the set. With the use of a single set of keys, the machine is rendered more compact, and the liability of confusion or mistakes occurring is reduced to a minimum.

Another object of the invention is the provision in an adding machine of novel means for quickly setting the master wheel at various positions after a number has been completed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and'in the details of construction, hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine with the casing shown in section, and portions broken away. I

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken on the lines 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of

.housing 1 which has journaled within its sides adjacent its back, a horizontal transverse shaft 2 upon which the indicatmg or re isterin side by si e, each wheel being provided upon wheels 3 are mounted snugly its periphery with the numerals 0 to 9, in-

elusive. cleared, dogs or pawls 4 are carried by the casm and engage and stop the tappets 5 of the w eels 3 when said wheels are returned to starting or zero position. The pawls 4 are so arranged that the wheels 3 can be advanced freely, but the shaft is normally held statlonary by its crank 6 which is engaged, as at 6", to the casing. By releasing the crank, it can be rotated to return all of the wheels 3 to zero position, where they are stopped by the tappets5 striking the pawls 4. The shaft 2 can move after the wheels are stopped so that all the wheels can be returned. The wheels in frictionally engagm the shaft tend to turn therewith. Any 0t er' means can be used to clear the ma-- chine.

,The casing 1 has'apertures 7 exposing the wheels 3 to exhibit the numerals thereof. The wheels 3 have gear teeth 8..' V

Means are provided whereby the wheels at the left can be operated by those at the right. Each wheel 3 has one of the tappets 5 coiiperable with a star wheel 9. The star whe els 9 are mounted on tubular shafts 10 havlng gears 11 meshing with car teeth 12 of the wheels 3 to the left. he shaft 10 1s journaled on a shaft 10. Every time In order that the machine can be one of the wheels 3 makes a complete revoludiately in front of the wheels 3, and has feathered or 'slidable thereon a master gear wheel 15 adapted to he slid longitudinally and to mesh in succession with the teeth 8. Fined upon the shaft 14 is a gear wheel 16 meshing with a larger gear wheel 17 mounted loosely upon another transverse shaft 18 mounted for rotation within the casin in front of the shaft 14. This gear wheel 17 is rotated in one direction with the shaft 18,

but not in the other due to the factthat a ratchet wheel 19 is mounted upon the shaft 18 and coiiperates with a dog or pawl 20 carried by the gear wheel 17 The shaft 18 is rotateddiiferent amounts whereby to advance the respective wheels 3 the proper number of steps and for this purpose a set ofplungers 21 are 'slidable ver- 18 will be rotated one of steps.

tically in guides 22 mounted within the casing, and said plungers have keys 23 at their upper ends designated 0 to 9, inclusive. Alternate plungers 21 have their keys 23 offset, as at 24, to provide a compact arrangement of the keys, they being sta gered, as seen in Fig. 1. The lower en s of the plungers 21 are provided with forwardly projecting toes 25 connected by retraetile springs 26 with the top of the easing, to raise the plungers, and the different plungers 21 have various numbers of teeth corresponding with the numerals upon the keys of the respective plun ers, whereby g "teeth 43 with which a pawl 44 of the gear when the zero key is depresse the shaft 18 will not be rotated, the zero plunger not having any teeth,but when any one of the plungers 21 are depressed, the teeth thereof engage one of the pmions 28 secured upon the shaft 18, there being one of sa d p1n1ons for each plunger with the exception of the zero or blank plunger. Thus, if the plunger or key designated 1 is depressed, the shaft step if the plunger of the key designated 2 is depressed, the shaft 18 will be rotated two steps, and so on. The pawl 20 and ratchet wheel 19 are so arranged that when the shaft 18 is rotated due to the depression of a key, the gear wheel 17 will be rotated With the shaft 18, but when the shaft 18 is rotated during the return movement of the plunger, the gear Wheel 17 remains stationary. Consequently, the gear Wheel 15 is rotated only when a plunger is depressed, whereby-to advance the respective wheel 3 the desired number As a means for automatically moving the gear wheel 15 from one indicating wheel 3 to the other. u on the-upward stroke of each key, a rack ar 29 is slidable through the sides of the casingbelow shaft 15, and has an upstanding fork or finger 30 engaged with the hub of the wheel 15, whereby said wheel 15 willbe moved lon 'tudinally with the rack bar 29. The rac bar 29 slides through an aperture 31 in one side of the casing, and moves through an opening 32 in the op osite side of the casing. One end of the 'ar 29 has a knob or finger piece 33 Whereb the rack bar can be readily slid, and said rack bar yieldably raised by a spring pressed member 34, which is preferably provided with a rounded lug 35 engageable in notches 36 with which the bar 29 is provided in its lower surface. The notches 36 in engaging the lug 35 will hold the gear wheel 14 in mesh with the teeth 8 of any wheel 3. By depressing the knob 33, the rack bar 29 can be slid longitudinally of itself to set the gear wheel 15 as desired.

The teeth of the rack bar 29 ordinarily mesh with a pinion 37 secured upon a shaft 38 journaled in suitable bearings 39 pro-.

' ratchet device.

vided within the casin adjacent one side thereof, the rack bar 2 being held against the bottom of said pinion 37 by the 5 ring pressed member 34. A bevel gear 40 is eyed upon the shaft 38 and meshes with the bevel gear 41 rotatable loosely upon the shaft 18 adjacent the gear wheel 17, and a gear wheel 42 is mounte loosely upon the shaft 18 between the bevel gear 41 and gear wheel 17. The bevel gear 41 is rotated in one direction with the gear wheel 42 but not in the other direction, through the medium of a Thus, the hub of the bevel ear wheel 41 can be provided with ratchet wheel 42 is coiiperable. Meshing with the gear wheel 42 is a rack attached to one limb of a U-shaped lever 46 having its terminals fulcrumed, as at 47 to the back of the casing. The intermediate portion of the lever. 46 is normally raised against the toes 25 of the plungers by a spring'48. When the lever 46 is depressed, the gear wheel 42 rotates vided at their upper ends with buttons or keys-51. Said buttons or keys are preferably located immediately in front of the respective wheels 3, andthe lower ends of the plungers 50 are slidable in a guide 52 within the casing, said plungers being slidable through the top of the casingalso. The fork or finger 30 has a forwardly projecting stop 53 movable freely below the lower ends of the plungers 50 when they are in normal raised position. The plungers 50 are raised by means of coiled wire expansion springs 60 surrounding the plungers and confined I between the top of the casing and the buttons 51. Spring means is connected to the rack bar 29 tending to return the same to starting position, said means including a spiral or other suitable spring 54 having a pinion 55 connected thereto and meshing with the rack bar 29, whereby when said rack bar is advanced (to the right'as seen in Figs. 1 and 2), the spring. 54 will be wound up, thereby having a tendency to return the rack bar to starting position. The tension of the spring 54-is lighter than the tension of the spring 48, in order not to impair the advance movement of the rack bar by the spring 48. A lever 56 has one end fulcrumed, as at 57, to one side of the casing and extends across the plungers 50 immediately in rear thereof, and is provided at its free end with a shoe 58 bearing downwardly upon the rack bar have rearwardly' projecting lugs 59 overhanging the lever 56, whereby when any one of the plungers 50 is depressed, the lug 59 will swing the lever 56 downwardly, so

.that its shoe 58 depresses the rack bar 29 away from the pinion 37 thus bringing the spring 54 into play for returning. the rack bar backwardly as far as it will go until the add the numerals 1,256 and 22,233, the rack bar 29 is first depressed and moved to bring the master gear wheel 15 into mesh with the teeth 8 of the fourth wheel 3 from the right. Then, after the rack bar 29 is released, so' that its teeth engage the pinion 37 the keys designated 1, 2, 5 and 6 are. depressed in. succession. When the key designated 1 is depressed, the shaft 18 is rotated a step, thus advancing the gear wheels 16 and 17 a corresponding amount, so that the gear wheel 15 rotates the'respective wheel 3 one step to move the numeral 1 of said wheel behind the respective aperture 7, supposing that all of the wheels were previously set at zero. When the key designated l'is released, the lever 46 which was depressed during the downward movement of said key, will by its upward movement, rotate the gear wheel 42, whereby to rotate the bevel gears 41 and 40, so that the shaft 38 and its pinion 37 are r0- tated to move the rack bar 29 one step to the right, whereby to bringthe gear wheel into mesh with the teeth 8 of the third wheel 3 from the right. The key designated 2 is now depressed to advance the respective wheel 3 two steps and after said key is released, the gear wheel 15 will be moved into mesh with the second wheel 3 from the right. After the keys designated 5 and 6 are depressed, the last four wheels 3 will show the number 1,256 in the apertures 7. The operation is now repeated for the next number, the rack bar29 being depressed and moved back to bring the gear wheel 15 into mesh with the proper wheel 3, which with the second number above indicated, is the fifth wheel from the right. The first three numerals 222 are added by simply depressing the key designated 2 three times, and when the key designated 3 is then depressed two times, the second number is completed. The total will then appear in the aperture 7, and it will be noted that the machine can be used for adding up columns of various lengths, etc.

Instead of manipulating the rack bar 29 by hand for setting the master wheel 15, it is preferable to use the plungers 50, although either method can be employed. Thus, as the rack bar 29 is advanced, the spring 54 is brought under tension, and after the number is completed, the masterwheel can be returned to the desired wheel 3 to start the next number. This is accomplished by depressing the respective plunger 50, which in being depressed will depress the lever 56 so as to remove the rack bar 29 from the pinion 37, thus bringing the spring 54 into play for returnin the rack bartoward starting posi- 7 tion, but when the stop 53 strikes the lower end of the depressed plunger 50, the rack bar willbe arrested with the master wheel 15meshing with the teeth 8 of the corresponding wheel 3. When the plunger 50 is released, it will be raised by its spring 60,

thus releasing the rack bar 29 which will immediately engage the pinion 37 for a newv operation. By this arrangement, the master wheel can be returned to any desired, wheel 3 by depressing the/properplunger 50, although the rack bar can be manipulated independent of the plungers 50 if so desired.

To clear the machine, the shaft 2 is rotated in a direction reverse to the direction in which the wheels 3 are advanced, whichwill return 'said wheels to starting position, and when the tappets 5 strike the pawls 4, the'movement of the wheels 3 are stopped at zero position, and when all of the wheels are in this position, the machine is again ready for use. It will be noted that the parts can slip if some of the wheels 3 are stopped before the others.

A Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: I

1. An adding machine comprising a set of registering wheels, a slidable member, a master wheel movable with said member to engage said registering wheels in succession, means for rotating the master wheel, means for advancing said member, means brought under tension when said member is ad-' vanced and tendlng to return said member,-

and a plurality of means, one for each registering wheel, for releasing said member and stopping it at difl'erent positions when returned toward starting position.

2. An adding machine comprising a set of registering wheels, a slidably mounted rack, a master wheel movable with said rack to engage said registering wheels in succession, means for rotating the master wheel, meansfor advancing said rack including a pinion meshing therewith, 'means brought under tension when the rack is advanced tending to return the rack to starting position, a plurality of plungers one for each registering wheel, a stop movable with said rack past saidplungers, said plungers being movable to a position to'be engaged by said stop, and

pinion. I, t

3. An adding machine comprising a set of registering wheels, a master wheel mounted for advance movement to engage the registering wheels in succession, means for rotating the master wheel, means for admeans operated whenany-of said plungers are moved fordisconnecting the rack and the registering wheels to starting position,

5 means for stopping the master Wheel in engagement with the various registering wheels when returned by said spring means,

and means operated by the fourth mentioned means for disconnecting the second mentioned means from the master wheel to 10 bring the spring means into operation. In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- IVEY LEE LAN IER. Witnesses:

C. E. BUSH, W. M. LONG.

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